St Mary’s is fortunate to hold substantial archival material relating to its history. Individuals have worked hard in recent decades to collate, preserve, and catalogue these items.
Documents, and some artefacts, come from former staff and students, others were carefully kept official papers, yet more were discovered in old drawers from several departments therefore the collection has been donated from near and far.
Altogether there is a rich, if necessarily incomplete, collection pertaining to the history of this institution. Though this is, as might be expected, quite focussed on institutional, top-down documents, and proportionately twentieth-century heavy there are some older gems includes too. Over a hundred boxes hold items dating back to the founding of St Mary’s in 1850, through to the present day. Papers of former Principals, letters to and from Bishops, and copious communication with government officials sit alongside registers, timetables, and records of examinations. Some pieces are incredibly ephemeral such as catering receipts, while others are grand in nature, for example deeds and the architectural plans of Strawberry Hill House. One special series of items from past students are copies of their magazine, The Simmarian dating back to 1903 and containing all kinds of wonderful insights into student life. There are more than documents contained in the archive too with oral history recordings on tapes and floppy disks, photographs, and some other items of St Mary’s past. It is a collection richer than the sum of its parts as a fantastic record of so much of the college’s history.
Practically, the archive has not always been accessible. A 1980s thesis on the provision of Catholic teachers noted that St Mary’s had an archive, but that it was disorganised. Around the millennium some effort was made to organise the archive. Cataloguing was undertaken and an Excel spreadsheet was produced offering an overview of the contents. A visitor book from the early 2000s, now fittingly archived, shows researchers coming to consult the collection. From this high point of organisation and accessibility the decision was however made to remove the archive to offsite storage. For several years this has been in a former cold war bunker in Oxfordshire with very limited access.
In 2023 plans were set in motion to repatriate St Mary’s archive back to campus, with discussion currently underway to create a reading room to make the materials once again readily accessible to researchers. During 2023/24 newly appointed University Archivist, Mary-Ann McClaren, has been working hard to make this ambition a reality. A site has been selected and preparations are being made. Some key items are being digitised to aid access and preservation. In the St Mary’s anniversary year 2025, parts of the archive will be exhibited with plans for an associated book. Altogether St Mary’s archives will be front and centre in the anniversary year.
![Students who left in year 1895’ [SMH/3/17].](/research/centres/catholic-education/media/students-from-1985200x290.jpg)
Across much of the research and writing on Catholic education in nineteenth and twentieth century Britain, St Mary’s is notably absent or minimal. The result of its historic disorganisation and inaccessibility with the archive. Bringing the archive back to Twickenham will better enable access to it for researchers both within, and from outside, the University. Therefore, drawing this history further forward in our consciousness and scholarship. This current project, on The History and Heritage of St Mary’s is a first step toward this. Look out for news in 2024/25 on new onsite access to the St Mary’s archive and other efforts to share our history and heritage.
Students who left in year 1895. Image courtesy of St Mary’s University Archives. Not to be reproduced without permission.